Charges for any criminal offense bring about feelings of confusion, fear, and anxiety. Those feelings are more intense when you face charges for a more severe offense. California law treats crimes against children more seriously than other offenses. Crimes like child neglect attract long prison/jail time and hefty fines and could result in additional consequences like lost gun rights and a damaging criminal record. 

Luckily, we could fight with you for a fairer outcome for your situation if you or your loved one face child neglect charges in Santa Ana, CA. We have a strong team of competent criminal attorneys at California Criminal Lawyer Group that will be willing to walk you through the complex legal process until the determination of your case. Our experience could enable us to compel the jury to reduce or dismiss your charges. 

Legal Definition of California Child Neglect

Child neglect occurs when a parent or a child's primary caregiver willfully and with no legal justification does not provide necessities to a child, including food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. The offense is mainly a misdemeanor but could attract felony charges based on the circumstances of the case. The criminal process for anyone facing child neglect charges is usually intense. Thus, it would help to partner with a skilled criminal lawyer for a smooth and fair process. 

California law is overly protective of minors (individuals below the legal age of 18). Children are considered incapable of protecting and providing for themselves. Parents and guardians are charged with ensuring that they provide basic and remedial care for all their children, including necessities like shelter, food, clothing, and medical needs. Failing to do so without any legal excuse could result in criminal charges and a possible conviction leading to prison/jail time.

The law against child neglect is California PC 270. It protects minors against neglect by the people legally responsible for providing for their needs. These people could be the biological parents of a child or an adult that a civil or criminal action has made a child's parents.

Child neglect law does not relieve parents from criminal liability if they believe that the parent with legal custody of the child is responsible for providing the child's necessities. Parents who neglect their parental responsibilities simply because other people or organizations have equipped the child with necessities will also be held criminally liable. If those other providers do not meet the child's basic needs for one reason or another, the child's parent or caregiver must ensure that all the child's different needs are met. Otherwise, they will likely be prosecuted and convicted for child neglect.

Prosecutors rely on solid evidence to obtain a conviction of child neglect. First, the prosecutor must prove that you are the child's parent or primary caregiver. Second, you willingly or without legal justification failed to provide the child's necessities. To determine the case's outcome, the judge will consider your finances to support the child's needs, including your income, gifts, and benefits like social insurance.

Child neglect laws apply the same in situations where the child's parents are divorced or married, regardless of their agreements after separation or divorce. The rights of a child apply right after conception, even before the child is born. Thus, an unborn child is considered an existing child whose rights must be respected per this law.

Additionally, a man whose wife conceived through artificial insemination is considered the child's father for this statute if the husband signed a written consent to the artificial insemination.

Examples of Child Neglect

Child neglect constitutes several acts of negligence by parents or caregivers. Examples include:

  • A parent failing to take a sick 15-year old to the hospital yet they have the financial ability to do so
  • Adoptive parents that fail to provide sufficient clothes to their eight-year-old twins
  • A parent that does not provide warm clothes to his children during winter
  • A working parent that does not adequately feed his two-year-old child

Cases of child neglect are handled on a case-to-case basis due to their uniqueness. Thus, you could face serious criminal charges based on the details of your case.

Elements of the Offense

Child neglect cases are not straightforward and could be challenging to prove by the prosecutor. The law provides elements or facts of the offense, which the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt for you to be guilty under California PC 270. They are:

  • You are a parent to the minor
  • You failed to provide the minor's necessities
  • You did so willfully and without legal justification

A child's necessities mean what a child needs to survive daily, including food, shelter, clothing, and medical care. Medical care comprises all child's medical needs, including health and dental care. Necessities could also include remedial care like religious needs.

A parent is guilty under this statute if they willfully fail to provide a child's necessities. A willful act is done willingly or purposefully, not accidentally. Willfully failing to do something is different from negligence.

Let us look at some of the elements of this offense in greater detail to understand it even better:

A Minor and a Parent

The statute protects minors against neglect by their parents.

A minor refers to any person below the legal age of 18. Once a person attains 18 years, they become adults and responsible for their necessities. A parent will not face child neglect charges if they fail to provide necessities for an adult child, even if that child cannot cater to their needs financially.

An unborn child is also considered a minor under this law. It means that the parents of an unborn child are legally mandated to provide all necessities for the child.

A parent is not just the biological parent of a child. It could include the following people:

  • Legal parents of a child
  • Foster care parents
  • Adoptive parents
  • Anyone else who holds themselves as a parent to a child

A parent is also the legal husband of a wife who bears a child while still living with that husband, regardless of whether that husband is the child's biological parent.

But, a parent will not be someone that lost their parental rights and obligations to a child through a court declaration, for instance, a former babysitter or foster parent.

A Lawful Justification

Child neglect occurs when a parent fails to provide a child's necessities without legal justification. The law requires parents to do what is reasonable to provide necessities for their children. Parents must work or seek financial assistance to ensure that their children's basic needs are always met. You have a lawful justification for failing to provide the necessities of your child if:

  • Your inability to provide is not your fault
  • You are not able to earn sufficient money
  • You do not have enough income or assets to offer all that the child needs

Remember that the judge will require sufficient solid evidence of this to dismiss your charges.

You are guilty of child neglect if you fail to provide your child's necessities because:

  • You have a job, but you reasonably chose to spend all your money on unnecessary things
  • You have no job and have not made any efforts to find one.

Example: Julia has been working two jobs to provide for her two children. They were doing well until she lost one job. Now, she struggles to put food on the table or send her children to school.

The court will not find Julia guilty of child neglect because her inability to provide for her children is due to job loss.

However, if Julia's inability to provide for her children were because she was gambling all her wages, she would be guilty under California PC 270.

The prosecutor will always assume that a parent has no legal justification to not provide for their child. Thus, you have the burden to prove otherwise. If you can convince the jury that you are doing the best you can under the circumstances, you will not be convicted of child neglect.

Child neglect can significantly impact a child's life, just like physical abuse, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, and maltreatment. Children require proper care, attention, and supervision to thrive. Failing to provide for a child's physical or emotional needs could affect how they grow and develop, resulting in mental illnesses, substance abuse problems, and similar impairments.

Visible Signs of Child Neglect

The police do not go from one home to the other, looking for signs of neglect to make arrests. They rely on information from members of the public or victims of neglect. Signs of child neglect are many. An in-depth investigation is required before a parent is prosecuted for child neglect. Some of the tell-tale signs that a particular child could be experiencing child neglect are:

  • A child that is always hungry and constantly displaying signs of looking for food or hoarding food
  • A child that appears smaller in body size and lighter in weight for their age
  • A child whose clothes appear dirty, do not fit well, is inappropriate for the weather, or a child that is scantily dressed.
  • A child that has not maintained proper hygiene like their peers — Could be they have unwashed/unkempt hair, dirty skin, or body odor.
  • A sick or injured child that does not appear as if they have received the necessary medical treatment
  • Children that frequently display strong negative emotions like frustration and anger
  • A minor that is always at or plays in an unsafe environment or situation — Could be a sign of inadequate supervision.
  • Children that are always tardy or absent from school or those that frequently change schools
  • Children that are always home alone

Penalties for a California Child Neglect Conviction

California child neglect can result in criminal and civil cases against the perpetrator. The victim can seek criminal justice against their parents in a criminal court and compensation for the damages they incurred due to the neglect in a civil court.

Child neglect is a misdemeanor criminal offense in California. Parents that are found guilty of neglecting the needs of their children are prosecuted and convicted of criminal penalties as provided under the state constitution. The crime is punished by:

  • A maximum of one year in jail
  • Court fines of not more than $2,000

You could face felony charges for neglecting your child's needs in exceptional situations. Those situations include failing to provide the care and needs your child requires even after receiving a court order. For instance, if a father underwent a legal process to ascertain the paternity of their child, and the court declared them the child's father, the father could face felony charges for child neglect if he fails to provide care to his child. Felony child neglect is punishable by:

  • A maximum of one year in jail or one year plus a day in prison
  • A fine of not exceeding $2,000

Sadly, a conviction for child neglect could result in other consequences that will affect various aspects of your life.

For instance, it could affect your right to own or possess a firearm. California has stringent gun laws that provide guidelines on who cannot possess or own a gun. One category of people prohibited from owning or possessing firearms in California is those who have a felony conviction on their criminal record. If you face felony charges for child neglect and are consequently convicted, you automatically lose your gun rights. You will not be allowed to buy a firearm in the state. If you are already a gun holder, you will be required to surrender it immediately after the conviction. A misdemeanor conviction for child neglect does not affect these rights.

Additionally, you could lose your child to California Child Protection Services (CPS). CPS always acts in the interests of a child. A neglected child has its rights violated. CPS will work quickly to ensure that the child is well-taken care of. In most cases, CPS aims to offer support to a child while still in its home with its parents. But if the child cannot remain in its home, CPS will have to remove the child and find a more suitable environment where the child will grow and develop well. In that case, you could lose your child if the court declares you unfit to care for them.

A conviction for child neglect will also leave you with a damaging criminal record. It could affect other aspects of your life, including your efforts to find employment. Employers will always run a background check on their prospective employees and will likely reject your application if you have a criminal record. Landlords also qualify their tenants based on their criminal history. If you have a criminal past, you could experience challenges in finding a suitable property to rent or lease.

Fortunately for you, you can have your criminal conviction expunged in California to remove all the hardships a criminal conviction comes with. An expunged criminal record will not be publicly available. Therefore, a prospective employer or landlord will not be able to deny you the services you truly deserve. But, expungement is only granted if you have successfully served your jail/prison term and/or probation and paid all the necessary court fines. Once you do that, file a petition with the court where the ruling on your case occurred. The judge will conduct a hearing from which the court could grant your expungement request.

Possible Legal Defenses Against California Child Neglect Charges

The good news is that you can beat your child neglect charges using solid defense and with the help of a competent criminal attorney. That will be your only chance to avoid a conviction and its consequences. California law provides several defense strategies that your defense attorney can use to compel the jury to dismiss or reduce your charges. Some of the techniques you can use in your situation are:

You Did Not Act Willfully

A conviction for child neglect requires you to have acted willfully in failing to provide the necessities your child/children need for survival. If our actions were not willful, you would not be convicted under California PC 270.

An act becomes willful if it is done deliberately or on purpose. If your actions were accidental or beyond your ability to control, you would not be convicted for child neglect. You suddenly lost your job, or the cost of living drastically went high, and you could not sustain your children's needs with your salary. However, it would be best if you convinced the jury that you are working on being able to care for your child/children.

You Have a Legal Justification

Child neglect charges hold in situations where a parent does not care for their children without a lawful justification. It is not a crime to not provide your child with necessities if you have a legal explanation. A legal justification means that your reason for not caring for your child at the moment is valid. For instance, if you are injured in an accident and cannot work for a while, you will not be able to provide for all your children's needs until you recover fully and start working again.

Prosecutors file child neglect charges assuming that a parent has neglected their parental responsibility with no legal justification. You have the burden of proof to provide evidence in court that supports your failure to care for your child.

Thus, your defense attorney will gather evidence to support your claims. For instance, if you lost your job, your attorney will demonstrate in court that you lost your job for no fault of your own and are seeking another job.

You are Falsely Accused

It is not uncommon for people to falsely accuse others of crimes others have not committed. Some people are severely punished for crimes they did not commit in the first place. If you face false accusations of child neglect, let your defense attorney know about it and any possible reason why someone else would accuse you of a serious crime like that. It could be that someone is jealous, seeks revenge, or wants to get even with you for something you did or failed to do for them.

For instance, an ex-partner can accuse you of child neglect out of revenge for not staying married or in a relationship with them.

A competent criminal attorney will know the right words and strategies to obtain a dismissal for your charges.

California Child Neglect and Related Charges

California law has several offenses that are closely related to child neglect. The most common of them are:

Child Abuse

Child abuse law in California is under Penal Code 273d. You could face charges for child abuse if you inflict physical injuries or cruel punishment on a minor. However, reasonable corporal punishment by a parent, done in good faith, is legal.

Child abuse is different from child neglect in that the latter does not require any form of physical injury or disfigurement on a child.

Child Endangerment

California child endangerment laws are under Penal Code 273a. They prohibit a person from willfully exposing a minor to pain, danger, and suffering. Even if the child did not experience pain, danger, or suffering, child endangerment charges would hold. But child neglect only punishes a person for inflicting actual harm to a child by failing to care for them.

Find an Experienced Santa Ana Criminal Lawyer Near Me

Are you or someone you know facing child neglect charges in Santa Ana, CA?

Child neglect is a highly punished offense in California. It seeks to protect children from neglect by people charged with caring for them. Thus, you could be sentenced to jail or charged a hefty fine if found guilty. But, you can fight your charges with our help at California Criminal Lawyer Group. We have a team of competent criminal attorneys that will not leave anything to chance in ensuring that you obtain a fair outcome for your case. Call us at 714-844-4151, and let us study the details of your case for proper legal guidance and assistance.